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Artist
Stuttering John
12+ albums
hard rock
about
John Melendez, formerly known as "Stuttering John" (b. October 4, 1965 in New York City), is the announcer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He currently lives in the city of Calabasas, CA with his wife, Suzanna Keller, and three children. Melendez was born to a Danish mother, and a stern Puerto Rican father who would occasionally have fits of rage. Melendez claims that he developed his chronic stutter and obsessive-compulsive disorder soon after witnessing a harsh argument between his parents.[1] He lived in Massapequa, Long Island and attended Plainedge High School, where he was taunted by the neighborhood bullies because of his stuttering. Eventually, he befriended those bullies and got into trouble himself. In 1988, Melendez attended New York University's film school, and belonged to a band called "Rock Slide". His college roommate was on the verge of quitting his internship with The Howard Stern Show, when Melendez begged him for a recommendation for an internship there. The show's producer, Gary Dell'Abate, mentioned Melendez's stuttering problem to Howard Stern, who decided to see him perform and eventually, to hire him. On Stern's show, Melendez would conduct outrageous street interviews, premised on the idea that celebrities would not want to look bad by refusing an interview from a stutterer. Melendez also would appear at press conferences and ask off-the-wall questions to Gennifer Flowers, Ringo Starr, and the Dalai Lama. He also provided comic interest with h
